By Kim Ly
In an exciting match on Wednesday night, the boys’ basketball team overpowered the Los Alamitos Griffins with a score of 77-53.
The game was led by senior Jeremiah Davis with a game-high of 19 points followed by players junior Aden Casarez with 16 points and senior Preston Amarillo with 10 points. Another key player to note was junior Roddie Anderson who made 7 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists.
“This game went very cool, we kept our foot on our necks; we kept going, ran our plays and [didn’t] get over-zealous,” Davis said.
The match opened up with the tip-off and first basket going to the Griffins only for the Barons to immediately steal the ball and score several consecutive points; Davis scored the first layup followed by Amarillo scoring the second layup. The first quarter continued with both sides aggressively fighting for the ball. Several 3-pointers made by Casarez helped the Barons push ahead and into the lead.
With only 1 minute and 36 seconds remaining in the first quarter, Anderson valiantly broke past the defenders and dunked on the Griffins. The first quarter ended 20-11.
Going into the second quarter, the Barons kept up their pace with well-executed layups and the occasional three-pointer. Multiple fouls from Los Alamitos allowed for the Barons to make multiple free throws; with 5 minutes and 38 seconds remaining, sophomore MaCarhy Morris gained two free throws which he made both of, making the score 26-14.
The clock continued ticking down; there was only 1 minute and 53 seconds left when Davis successfully made another dunk on Los Alamitos, letting the Barons go into halftime with a score of 35-26.
After halftime, the Barons seemed more energetic than ever and went into the third quarter with a lot of momentum. Aggressive offense, excellent passes and good communication combined with faulty playing by Los Alamitos allowed for the boys to create an overwhelming gap in points between them and the Griffins. The third quarter ended with the Barons leading 63-42.
“In the first half, we were struggling a little bit defensively but we picked it up in the second half,” assistant coach Timicha Kirby said.
The boys continued to dominate in the fourth quarter with their fast-paced plays and high adrenaline. As the game came to a close with 30 seconds remaining on the clock, sophomore Fernando Garcia made a thrilling fast break; he charged down the court before subsequently dunking without any defender blocking him. The game ended with an overwhelming victory of 77-53 for Fountain Valley.
The boys’ next game will be away against Corona Del Mar on March 30 at 7 p.m.
